Settling In

The first few days in Paris have been really hard. My flight was smooth and uneventful, thankfully. However, registration was a mess. I had to stand in line for hours to register and to get dinner. I went at least 36 hours without sleeping and without much food. For orienation I got housed way out in the boondocks of Paris, in the freaking suburbs. I'm almost an hour from school, where all the events are. However, things are starting to look up. I've jumped some hurdles, like getting a metro pass and setting up my phone. My hotel roomate and I have gone on the metro a couple times without getting lost, that makes me feel more confident about getting around. Yesterday was fun, b/c Clarice, my roomie Kim and I had some free time after going to orientatin sessions. We walked around the neigborhood our school is in and we got some food at a really cute little boulangerie. I had my first French Croque-Monsieur, a classic french food. We also got some yummy Pain au Chocolat. We walked up to the Eiffel Tower. We didn't go up, but I'll definately be back! It was crazy seeing the Eiffel tower, so surreal. I can't believe I have actually seen it, I've wanted to for so long. My next two hurdles are figuring out classes and housing. I have a housing meeting today, I hope it goes well! I'm doing a homestay, I can't wait to meet my french family! I think it will be fun, though everyone keeps warning me it might be awkward and what not. I want to move in as soon as possible. I've been meeting alot of cool people, everyone is very nice b/c we're all going through this madness together! I met two nice girls from Saudia Arabia and Finland. I've also been talking to people from Tulane, b/c alot of them are at my hotel. I can't wait to be all settled in!